Pretzel sticks are small snacks similar to miniature

pretzels A pretzel ( ; from or , ) is a type of baked pastry made from dough that is commonly shaped into a knot. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive symmetrical form, with the ends of a long strip of dough intertwined and then twisted ba ...

. They are 10–15 cm long and about 4 mm thick, made from leavened dough with a

lye Lye is the common name of various alkaline solutions, including soda lye (a solution of sodium hydroxide) and potash lye (a solution of potassium hydroxide). Lyes are used as cleaning products, as ingredients in soapmaking, and in various other c ...

crust and sprinkled with salt crystals. They are usually produced industrially and served as a

snack A snack is a small portion of Human food, food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including Food packaging, packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at ho ...

, often accompanying beer or wine. The dough for pretzel sticks is primarily made from wheat flour and it also contains

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...

malt Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as "malting". Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar, ...

, salt,

vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed ...

, and water. Their characteristic crust is created by treating the surface with lye (sodium hydroxide).

History

The German company ''

Bahlsen Bahlsen GmbH & Co. KG is a German food company based in Hanover. It was founded in July 1889 by Hermann Bahlsen (1859–1919) as the "Hannoversche Cakesfabrik H. Bahlsen". Bahlsen makes products such as chocolate-dipped Pick Up! snack bars. B ...

'' introduced pretzel sticks to the European market under the brand name ''Salzlettes'' in 1935. The company’s founder, Klaus Bahlsen, is said to have brought the recipe from one of his trips to the

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

. It is possible that the recipe for pretzel sticks was independently developed in 1949 by the Austrian bakery ''Bäckerei Zach'' from Feldbach. The company’s owner, Joseph Zach, was reportedly looking for a way to automate the production of traditional pretzels. Since twisting thin dough rolls into the classic pretzel shape required a great deal of manual labor, he decided to produce them as simple straight sticks instead. Bäckerei Zach was later acquired by ''

United Snacks of Kelly United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

'', which began producing the sticks under the brand name ''Soletti''. After major commercial success, this name eventually became the trademark for all of the company’s products. Over time, pretzel sticks began to be produced by numerous manufacturers worldwide.https://www.keychain.com/manufacturer/pretzel-sticks

Similar snacks

Pocky is a Japanese sweet snack food produced by the Ezaki Glico food company. Pocky was first sold in 1966, and was invented by Yoshiaki Koma. It consists of coated biscuit sticks. It was named after the Japanese onomatopoeic word , which is suppo ...

* Breadsticks

References

{{Portal, Food Convenience foods Pretzels World cuisine